Update 7-9-00

In the Macs Only! review of version 1.4 of Connectix Virtual Game Station, we wondered aloud if the addition of compatibility with European titles meant that CVGS would also play Japanese PlayStation titles as well.

The answer is yes

We found a mail-order game-rental site, WebGameZone.com that rents Japanese PlayStation titles. These games are not normally playable in the US, unless you have a Japanese PSX or a NetYaroze, a region-free machine offered to amateur developers as part of a program with Metrowerks. To reduce our costs and risks, we just rented two games that have not and probably will not get a US release: Chocobo Stallion and Dance Dance Revolution

We tried both in a US PlayStation. Chocobo Stallion was rejected with the message "Please insert a PlayStation CD-ROM". Dance Dance Revolution came up as an audio CD.

Then we put them in a Rev/A iMac with CVGS 1.4. Chocobo Stallion came up like any other CVGS title and played just fine. As fine as it could be played, that is, by a CVGS Watch editor who's only gotten through the first two lessons of Japanese for Busy People :-) I think I managed to sell my ranch's only Chocobo, then lost all the proceeds at the race-track. With instructions and on-screen information almost entirely in Japanese, this is not a game to import if you cannot read the language.

Dance Dance Revolution started loading, but then popped up a page of Japanese text that could not be dismissed. Our guess is that this may be a "mod chip" rejection screen, meant for gamers who have modified their North American PSX with a chip to eliminate the machine's regional lock-out (and usually its copy-protection as well). After all, we didn't even get to this screen with the real, un-modified PSX.
Update 7-9-00: WRONG! Reader Jubel Chen informs us that this text is not a mod-chip rejection screen, but rather a simple warning for players using the special "dance pad" controller that they play in a well-lit room, with plenty of distance from the TV. That suggests that the failure of the game to work with CVGS is a regular emulation failure, not a mod-chip issue.

Perhaps the most interesting point is that when we downgraded to CVGS 1.2, we got a dialog saying "Sorry, this version of Connectix Virtual Game Station only supports North American PlayStation CDs." So, Connectix used to support Sony's regional lock-out schemes, but as of version 1.4, they don't anymore. That prompts some interesting speculation -- did Connectix put in region lock-out in hopes of appeasing Sony and avoiding a lawsuit? With the suit filed anyway and resolved almost entirely in Connectix's favor, do they feel there's no longer a strategic or legal need for it? And why do they advertise the ability to run European PAL games in 1.4 but not even mention support for Japanese NTSC?

In any case, the fact that CVGS is now a region-free PSX emulator is a pleasant surprise that should make it appealing to the sub-culture of hardcore gamers who either like to be ahead of the curve (Japanese games come out months or even years before their North American editions) or enjoy genres that are thought to be unlikely to succeed here. We're adding these two games to our Macs Only! CVGS Watch today and look forward to hearing from any readers who try Japanese PSX games on CVGS 1.4.